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Seattle shooting: College student disarmed gunman

Seattle Campus Shooting

Police officers conduct body searches on students after a shooting occurred on the Seattle Pacific University campus Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Seattle. The university posted online Thursday that "the campus is in lockdown due to a shooting near Otto Miller Hall." (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Dean Rutz)
(Dean Rutz)

SEATTLE -- A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire Thursday in a building at a small Seattle university, killing one person before he was subdued by a student as he tried to reload, police said.

Police say the student building monitor at Seattle Pacific University disarmed the gunman and several other students held him until police arrived at the Otto Miller building.

A man in his 20s died and a critically injured 20-year-old woman was taken to surgery, Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.

A 24-year-old man and a 22-year-old man were in satisfactory condition. None of the victims was immediately identified.

About 4,270 students attend the private Christian university, which was founded in 1891 by the Free Methodist Church of North America. Its 40-acre campus is in a residential neighborhood about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle.

Jillian Smith was taking a math test on the second-floor of Otto Miller Hall when a lockdown was ordered.

She heard police yelling and banging on doors in the hallway. The professor locked the classroom door, and the 20 or so students sat on the ground, lining up at the front of the classroom.

"We were pretty much freaking out," said Smith, 20, a sophomore. "People were texting family and friends, making sure everyone was OK."

Smith said they sat in the classroom for about 45 minutes, before police came and escorted them out of the building. On the way, they passed the lobby where she saw bullet casings and what appeared to be blood in the lobby carpet and splatter on the wall.

"Seeing blood made it real," Smith said. "I didn't think something like this would happen at our school," she added.